Effective development and deployment of media players remains an ongoing challenge for content providers. For example, many proposals have been offered for monetizing web-based video distribution by subscription fees, advertisements, and/or other methods. However, development costs can affect the success of a web-based video or other content distribution service. For example, a specialized video or other media player may need to be developed for different applications (e.g., a video player, an audio player, etc.). A media player can be constructed as a using rich internet applications such as the Flash® Player by Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose, Calif. However, construction of the media player can entail customization to support features of the distribution service, such as adding specialized playback controls and coding a video player to switch between content and advertisements. These customizations can represent a significant expense in time and funds.